Fighting Our Battles Together
by victoriousfan8
Summary: After being brutally shoved out of the closet, Santana joined the US Army. 6 years later after being honorably discharged she runs into none other than Quinn Fabray. As she reconnects with her past and the people in it she begins falling in love with Quinn, leading her down a bumpy road full of twists and turns, that ultimately will make it all worth it. Pairing: Quinntana
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:  
**

**This is a Quinntana story I've been working on lately. I wasn't planning on posting it yet but I have had a lot of free time so I decided I might as well post it now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee *sniffle***

As the cab pulled to a stop in front of the apartment building, Corporal Santana Lopez of the US Army stepped out and took in the view. Six years ago, Santana Lopez left her hometown of Lima without telling anyone and she enlisted in the Army. After experiencing a terrible injury, Santana was given an honorable discharge and was sent home. She had decided to move to Los Angeles and get a fresh start in life. Away from the hell that it was before the Army. The Latina had searched for a place to stay and the only place in Los Angeles she found that wasn't too sketchy or disgusting was this apartment building. She carried her suitcase and duffel bag up the stairwell to the apartment she had bought. The building was nice, it was near a park, wasn't too far from the grocery store, and was in a particularly safe neighborhood. It couldn't have been much better for her taste.

Being the Army had taken it's toll on the Latina. Sure, she had kept her amazing figure, but the scars that littered her body made her feel insecure every time she looked in a mirror. She had nightmares more than she'd like to admit and jumped when she heard loud noises. She kept a handgun in the top drawer of her bedside table and found herself reaching for it every time she woke up. She just wasn't the same person she used to be. It bothered her some times, but in the end she was proud of the woman she had become.

Once she had reached her apartment she had quickly begun unpacking things. The apartment was already furnished so she wouldn't have to worry about sleeping on the floor, so that was nice. She changed out of her uniform and slipped on a tank top and some basketball shorts, grabbed a bottle of water, and made her way downstairs to head out for a jog. As she jogged around the park she took in the sights around her. There were children laughing and playing together or with their parents. There was an elderly couple sitting on a bench feeding the birds and a couple of teenagers practicing skateboarding tricks along the sidewalk. This place was perfect. It was everything she had wanted and more. How could it get much better?  
She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of a little girl crying. Santana looked around quickly, trying to locate where the sound was coming from. What she saw was a little girl with blonde hair who looked somewhere between seven and eight years old sitting in the middle of the sidewalk near the holding her knee. Instincts taking over, she quickly made her way to the little girl.  
"Hi, my name is Santana, do you know where your mommy is?" The little girl looked up at Santana with hazel eyes full of tears.  
"No, I ran off from my mommy because she wouldn't let me have ice cream."  
"Oh, well can I take a look at your knee?" The little girl nodded and pulled her hands away from her knee, allowing Santana to see the three little scratches that had already stopped bleeding.  
"I think you'll be okay, do you know your mom's phone number?" The small girl nodded her head before quietly sniffling. Santana pulled out her phone and handed it to the girl.  
"Okay, here's my phone so you can call your mommy and tell her where you are, alright?"  
"Okay." The small blonde responded as she held the phone to her ear.  
"Mom? Yes... No, a nice lady let me use her phone... I know, I'm sorry... I'm on a bench by the monkey bars... Okay." Once the little girl had hung up she gave Santana's phone back and smiled.  
"Thank you for helping me."  
"No problem kid, but I never caught your name."  
"Oh, sorry, my name is Beth." Santana froze. Blonde hair, hazel eyes, Beth, she just ran into Quinn Fabray's kid. Hopefully the kid was here with Shelby though. Santana wasn't sure if she could handle facing Quinn after all these years.  
"Oh my god, there you are Beth!" Santana jumped in surprise but quickly turned to see the one person she was hoping to avoid. There stood Quinn Fabray in all her glory hugging Beth tightly before looking up.  
"Thank you so much! I don't know how I can-" Quinn froze when she realized who was standing in front of her.  
"Santana?" The Latina just nodded, unable to form any words. Quinn still looked as beautiful as ever. Quinn quickly moved over to her and enveloped her in a tight hug causing Santana to stiffen.  
"Where have you been?" Quinn asked as she pulled away. Santana could see the tears forming in her eyes and felt guilty all of a sudden for leaving everyone to play a guessing game about where she may have been all of that time.  
"I've been around."  
"Okay, well, would you mind coming over to my apartment building for a bit to catch up?" Quinn asked hopefully. "It's just right there." She pointed towards Santana's apartment building.  
"Sure."

* * *

When they entered the apartment Santana was pretty impressed. It was nice and clean, but more than that, it looked like a home. It was perfect and cozy. Quinn sent Beth to her room to watch cartoons or play with her toys. When she came back out she led Santana to the couch where they could talk.  
"So where the fuck did you go?"  
"Umm... I joined the Army and served overseas." Quinn's jaw dropped.  
"You what!?"  
"I joined-"  
"No, I heard you. I'm just shocked. What are you doing back here?"  
"I got injured pretty badly." The memory of her time in the Army made the pain in Santana's back return full force. She tried to shake it off, but she had forgotten to take any pain pills before she went out for her jog.  
"What happened to you, if you don't mind me asking?"

* * *

**_Flashback_**

_Santana had been captured by an enemy leader during an attack. She was stood on her knees with her hands tied to the post in front of her. They had removed her shirt before tying her up. The man who had been interrogating her said that she could either answer their questions or they would torture her. She couldn't turn against her country, it wouldn't be right. So she accepted the torture. She heard boots hitting the gravel heavily as a man approached her from behind.  
"This is your last chance to give us the information we want." The deep voice stated. After a moment of silence she felt the leather whip make contact with her left shoulder-blade. She tried her best to hold in her screams but after about fifteen lashes to her back she couldn't contain it any longer. With every hit she let out a loud scream. The man got probably twenty good lashes in before his supervisor stopped him. When they were done they let her go just a little ways from her base. She crawled most of the way there before being carried in and treated to. She told her supervisors what had happened to her and then requested that she be released from the hospital. It took awhile but she was eventually released after being advised to visit a hospital when she got back to the United States, but she never did. She didn't want to go to a hospital, so she just went straight to Los Angeles._

**_End Flashback_**

* * *

Quinn was silent for a moment before moving towards the Latina and enveloping her into another hug as she cried. Once Quinn was done crying, she pulled away to look into Santana's eyes.  
"I'm glad you're here now."

As they further discussed things Santana learned that Quinn had been single since high school because she had wanted to focus on her career for a while. Shelby had decided that Quinn was mature enough and let her begin seeing Beth more often and that Beth was spending spring break with Quinn and would go home tomorrow morning. Quinn had taken job as a photographer for a magazine. Quinn caught her up on everyone else's lives too. Rachel was having a successful career on Broadway and was still single. Puck was dating a girl named Jessica and now owned his own bar in New York. Blaine had become Rachel's manager and is married to Kurt who was working as a fashion designer at Vogue. Mercedes and Sam were back together and Sam had taken up modeling while Mercedes continued to have a pretty good career as a recording artist. Artie was working as a film editor. Mike owned a dance studio with Brittany in New York and was now engaged to Tina, who was just getting her career on Broadway started. Finn was living in Lima, working as a teacher and helping co-coach the glee club. Apparently the New Directions hadn't won at nationals the first two years following everybody's departure, but since than they had placed in the top three every year.  
It was weird hearing about everyone else and their accomplishments while all she had was six years of military service and a few medals. It didn't seem nearly as special, but Santana felt as though she already had more success than anyone else, and she was proud of herself.  
She talked with Quinn for a little while longer before they exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and Santana headed back to her apartment.

Before she had taken her painkillers and went to bed she couldn't stop thinking about how perfect her day had been, and once she had fallen asleep all she dreamt about was Quinn.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note:  
Santana is going to be really insecure about her scars, but Quinn is going to help her through that and it will really build their relationship. Which, speaking of the Quinntana relationship, this whole chapter is just going to focus on the two of them spending time and getting closer.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Bring It On**

_The room was dark and cold. Santana was in her third year of duty. She and a group of other soldiers and officers had been hiking along the area around the base when a group of enemy soldiers had taken them hostage. She remembered bits and pieces of things. They had tried to fight back but were highly outnumbered. She had been fighting hand to hand against another guy when she felt the guy's knife make contact with her torso a few times before she blacked out. When she woke up she was in this room with her hands tied tightly around her back. She could hear the screams coming from other rooms and she tried to pretend she couldn't hear them but it was incredibly hard to forget that sound. Eventually she heard the distinct sound of boots coming closer, and then a heavy door being pushed open. A light flickered on allowing her to see two men standing in front of her. They were both tall and muscular with dark tans. One of them was holding a knife and lighter in his hand. The other had a long dark beard. The man with the knife began to step closer and snickered menacingly when Santana tried to get away. The other reached down and held her still while the man with the knife lifted her shirt to display four long cuts from when they had been attacked. Santana kicked at one of them but was met with a hard punch to the face as retaliation. The man went back to what he was doing and held the knife over the lighter for a few minutes before leaning in closer to her. The knife resembled a branding iron and Santana promised herself she wouldn't scream, but when the burning knife made contact with her skin she couldn't hold it in. The searing white hot pain was too much. He held the knife to each cut for a couple of moments before moving to the next cut. As he placed it on the last and largest cut he dug it into her skin. When she let out the pained scream both of the men just let out a sinister laugh. He dug it deeper into her skin until she screamed loud enough for everyone else in the building, striking fear and worry into all of the other hostages.  
_

* * *

"Santana! Come on, Santana, wake up!" Santana shot upright from her bed with a loud scream. She looked up to find Quinn standing next to her bed. Quinn looked at her with shocked wide eyes. Santana moved her hand to her ribs, hoping to find out that she was just having a nightmare and that it never happened, but she was met with the four scars. It had been a nightmare, but it was also a memory that she wouldn't be able to forget. The Latina felt the bed shift next to her and looked over to Quinn who seemed kind of sad and confused. They sat there quietly for a moment before Quinn broke the silence.  
"I picked your lock with a hairpin. You weren't answering my calls or texts and I got worried. I can go if you want but-"  
"Don't go. Please." Santana met Quinn's eyes and stared into the deep hazel pleadingly.  
"I won't. I'm kind of worried about you. That nightmare seemed pretty bad. Do you want to talk about it?" So Santana told the former cheerleader about it, and by the end she was crying as Quinn held onto her tightly. When they pulled apart Santana could see the question in the girls eyes. She had a good idea about what she wanted to ask, but she knew Quinn would need to pushed into asking her question or she never would.  
"You look like you have something you want to ask me."  
"Oh... Umm, not really." Santana wanted to push her to ask her question, but decided against it. They sat in silence for a few more moments before Quinn broke the silence yet again.  
"Do you want to hang out today? I already dropped Beth off with Shelby so we can go to my apartment."  
"Yeah okay, just let me get a shower."

Quinn had headed back to her apartment and told Santana just to come down when she was done getting ready. Santana had stood in front of her bathroom mirror, just taking in the sight of her scars. They made her feel insecure and brought back painful memories. Once she had gotten her shower and but on some jeans and a t-shirt she headed down to Quinn's apartment. Quinn had opened the door for her to come in before she could even finish knocking.  
"I thought we could watch a movie or something and just chill out on the couch today." Santana just nodded.  
"The DVDs are right there if you want to pick one out and I'll go make us some popcorn." Quinn stated pointing towards a shelf full of movies. As Quinn went into the kitchen Santana looked through all of the DVDs. A set of discs caught her attention though. On the right side of the shelf their were several cases of home movies. The one that caught her attention had the title "Santana's Glee Performances". Santana just held it and stared at it. She hadn't seen anyone else's glee performances on the shelf. Why were hers there? When Quinn came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of popcorn and two cans of soda Santana was sitting in front of the shelf staring at the DVD of her performances form glee club. Quinn used to watch those whenever she missed Santana. They had always been best friends even though had stabbed each other in the back plenty of times. Quinn quietly sat down the popcorn and drinks on the coffee table before moving over to the Latina. She noticed a small tear slide down Santana's face and she didn't know what to think. The blonde sat down and wrapped and arm around the brunette. Santana looked up at her.  
"Why did you keep this?"  
"I wanted to have piece of you in case I never saw you again." Quinn answered honestly. Santana looked slightly guilty that she had left everyone behind. She didn't think anyone would have cared that much.  
"Well, I'm here now."

They had ordered Chinese before settling on watching Bring It On, even though Santana just complained that Isis sucked during the whole movie. Quinn watched Santana more than she actually watched the movie. Santana had a few scars that were hard to see unless you were looking for them. She had one that was along the left side of her jaw line that was easier to notice than the others, but it wasn't too bad. When she had woken Santana up she had wanted to ask her if she could see her scars, but it seemed like a really personal question to ask someone. She hadn't even realized the movie was over until Santana cleared her throat.  
"Ready to ask me that question of yours, Quinnie?"  
"Do you want to spend the night?"  
"I'm not sure I'd fit in Beth's bed, and I'm not sure my back is gonna appreciate it if I sleep on a couch."  
"You can sleep in my bed with me Santana. It won't bother me."  
"Oh... Okay. I guess I can stay the night then."

After Santana and Quinn had gotten into bed they had small talked for a little bit before being enveloped in silence. Quinn looked over at Santana, who was staring up at the ceiling, and thought back to her question.  
"Hey Santana?"  
"Hmm?"  
"You know that question I was going to ask you earlier? I think I'm ready to ask it now." Santana turned her head and looked at Quinn, giving her a silent nod, lettering her know she was listening.  
"Can I... Could you, I mean would you-"  
"Spit it out Q."  
"Can I see your other scars?" Santana nodded quietly before sitting up and reaching for the hem of her shirt. She pulled the t-shirt she was wearing off, allowing Quinn to see all of the scars that were displayed on her torso. Quinn ghosted her fingers along the larger scar as a tear slid down her face. Her touch was soft and gentle. It made Santana feel safe.  
"There's more on my back, if you want to see them." Quinn scooted around Santana to get a clearer view of her back. She let out a gasp at the sight of the scars that obviously hadn't been taken well enough care of. They looked incredibly painful and she got the feeling that these scars were what Santana's nightmares were about.  
"I know everything about me is kind of ugly compared to how I used to look and everything. I mean I'm not too good looking anymore. I'm pretty fucking horrible looking if you ask me." Quinn couldn't believe what she was listening to. How could Santana think these things about herself? The Latina used to be so confident back in high school. She would act like she ruled the world and wasn't afraid to admit that she was outstanding looking. It wasn't like she had gained fifteen or twenty pounds, if anything she had lost that much weight. Now, here was Santana Lopez in all her glory sitting in front of her, the poor girl just didn't know how amazing she was.  
Quinn cupped the Latina's face with both of her pale hands and forced the soldier look at her. When their eyes met, Santana got lost in the bright hazel and Quinn got lost in the deep brown. They slowly and unconsciously moved in to each other connecting their lips. Their kiss was gentle but still filled with passion. When they pulled apart, Quinn rested her forehead against Santana's and looked into her eyes.  
"You are beautiful."


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note:**

**Thank you all for the positive comments, they mean a lot to me!  
Also, yes, the kiss came quickly, but it seemed like a good place to put it, and yes, it is usually hard for soldiers to open up about their time overseas to civilians, which is true, but Santana and Quinn have a really special connection that makes it easier for her to open up about things. However, I'm sad to say that Santana's backstory isn't going to get better, but her future will. We are going to be learning a lot more about her, we will even meet some of her friends that she was overseas with(whom we will meet in this chapter). Believe me, the things that were done to her body were not the hardest moments for her, and there will be some things she will keep bottled up for awhile. I also edited chapter 1 so that there isn't a relationship between Rachel and Puck, I thought of a new storyline for Rachel.**

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Glee**

_"Get the fuck down!"  
Gunshots rang out all around them as they tried to take cover. Santana was loading her gun next to her friend, Cory. When Santana first went overseas one of the first people she had talked to was Cory. He was a great guy who was always by her side when she needed him most. They had always joked and said that they wouldn't rather being shot at along side anyone other than each other. He was a tall and awkward guy, kind of like Finn without the ego. She had really disliked him at first, but he grew on her. He had a sense of humor and was really nice. When they first met he had tried flirting with her, but backed off completely and gave her the space she wanted when she told him that she was, as Brittany would have put it, capital G gay.  
"Everybody move back! Retreat!"  
Santana stood and ran as quickly as she could. When she finally got back to base she scanned the area for Cory. She couldn't find him. Where was he?  
"Cory! Cory where are you!?" Santana tried running back to go find him but was caught by two strong arms. She turned to find her friend Brandon's deep blue eyes looking back at her.  
"Brandon, I have to go find him! I can't just leave Cory, I can't!"  
"I know, but we can't go back out there, not yet. It's too dangerous and I can't risk losing both of you guys." So they sat and waited. It seemed like hours until they were approached by their leader, Sergeant Sanders, but when they were it was obvious something bad had happened because of the mournful look in his eyes.  
"I am so sorry." He continued to talk but neither of them were listening. They knew, they already knew that Cory was gone, and there was nothing the could do about it.  
_

* * *

Quinn woke up to find Santana tossing and turning in bed, covered in a thin sheet of sweat. Last night they had kissed, and it was honestly the best kiss she had ever had, but she had also seen the scars. They chilled her to the bone every time she thought about them. She assumed that they were probably what Santana was having a nightmare about since that was what her other was about. She gently shook Santana.  
"Wake up Santana. Santana, wake up!" Santana's eyes shot open and she looked over at Quinn.  
"Are you okay? What happened?"  
"You just had another nightmare... Do you want to talk about it?" Santana shook her head and Quinn felt her heart drop. The Latina had been so open with her, she didn't want her to close up now. She didn't want Santana to bottle up any of her pain, it would only do more damage. She didn't want to push Santana away though, so she settled for giving Santana some space.  
"I'm gonna go fix some coffee do you want some?" Santana nodded and Quinn headed into the kitchen.

When Santana entered the kitchen she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Quinn at the table.  
"So, I want to take you out tonight." Quinn looked up at Santana with a raised eyebrow.  
"Like a date?" Santana faltered for a moment.  
"Yeah, I mean unless you don't want to. You know what, never mind. Pretend I didn't say anything. I shouldn't have ever asked, I should've known you wouldn't want to go out with me. What was I thinking?" Quinn reached across the table and grabbed Santana's hands.  
"I would love to go on a date with you Santana." Quinn smiled as Santana went wide eyed and her jaw dropped.  
"Are you serious?"  
"Yes, Santana, I would love to go on a date with you. How about you pick me up at six tonight?" Santana's grin widened as she began to think of all the things that they could do for their first date.  
After they sat and small talked for a little while longer Santana headed back to her apartment. She felt kind of bad about not talking to Quinn about her nightmare. She had been close to Cory, he was a great guy and was always kind to her. She found herself missing him pretty often and not having anyone to talk to about it. She wished she could talk to Quinn, but she just didn't know if she could talk to someone who didn't know Cory as well as she did.

* * *

Santana had decided to take Quinn on a picnic since she still didn't know the area too well. She had texted Quinn and told her to just dress casual for their date. Once she was ready she headed down to pick Quinn up. She knocked on the door twice before the beautiful blonde opened up the door with a grin.  
"Ready to go?" Quinn nodded.  
"I see you brought a picnic basket." Santana glanced down at the brown basket in her hand. She had almost forgotten it was even there.  
"Oh, yeah, I don't know the area well so I thought it would be cool to just have a picnic in the park."  
"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, Santana."

After they had finished their picnic, that was complete with BLTs and juice pouches, they lied down on the blanket Santana had brought and watched the sunset. They were content in the silence, it made the world seem like a perfect place in that moment.  
"Hey Santana?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Why'd you leave?" Santana froze. This was the question she had always hoped to avoid. She was almost positive that Finn wouldn't tell anyone that he was the one that outed her in the middle of a crowded hallway. She would imagine that everyone had seen the commercial, but Finn was way too arrogant to admit he was the cause of that commercial. That commercial ripped her life out from under her. Her parents kicked her out, her abuela disowned her, and the entire state would be finding out about her sexuality.  
"I got outed." Quinn sat up.  
"That's not a good reason. I know you, or at least I used to. The Santana Lopez I knew didn't run from her problems. She faced them head on with her chin up." Santana sat up and covered her face with her hands.  
"Finn shouted that I should come out of the closet while we were in a crowded hallway and it got back to that Salazar douchebag. I had to come out to my parents and abuela before they saw the commercial. My parents kicked me out and my abuela disowned me. I didn't run from my problems, I just found a new course of life. I was eighteen, nobody could stop me."  
"Finn outed you? In a crowded hallway? He never told us that." Santana nodded.  
"I didn't think he would." They sat in silence for a moment before Quinn stood up. Santana quirked an eyebrow.  
"Where are you going?  
"I'm going to buy a plane ticket to Ohio and then I'm gonna go beat the living shit out of Finn Hudson." Santana gathered the items form their picnic and then stood up.  
"As awesome as that sounds, I don't think he's worth it."  
"No... but you are." Santana smiled.  
"How about we just go back to my apartment and watch a movie?"  
"Sure."

They were halfway through their movie when Santana's phone started ringing. She reached out for her phone and looked at the number displayed. She knew exactly who this was. She slid her finger across the screen to answer with a huge grin on her face.  
"Hello, this is Santana's house of barbecue and taxidermy. How may I help you?" The loud laughter over the phone made Santana smile even brighter and got Quinn's attention.  
_"I'd like to order the best road kill you_ _have." _Santana laughed.  
"It's good to hear from you Brandon. I'm assuming you have a good reason for interrupting my date?"  
_"Date? Damn you're quick. Is she hot?" _  
"Very."  
_"Then I'll make this quick. I'm coming to Los Angeles for a bit before I head back to New York, you mind if I stay with you? It'll only be for a little bit."  
_"Yeah, sure. When do you think you'll get here?" Quinn quirked an eyebrow, still unknown to who Santana was talking to and what they were talking about.  
_"Umm... Sometime around tomorrow_ evening."  
"Okay, see you then." After hanging up, Santana looked at Quinn who was staring at her.  
"That was my friend, Brandon. We've been pretty close since we met in basic training. He's gonna come stay with me for a little bit until he can save up enough money to go to New York." Quinn nodded.  
"At least I'll get to meet one of your friends."


End file.
